Healthcare PRoviders

See below for appropriate assessments and treatment strategies for gambling disorder.

Assessments

While several of the VACPG fact sheets will be geared toward health professionals, below please find a list of commonly used standardized assessments for gambling disorder. Some of these have been validated with the DSM-5, but some are still only valid based on the DSM-IV.

Assessment: Biosocial Gambling Screen (BBGS)1Description: A three-item screener for a current gambling disorder, not a lifetime problem.

Assessment: Structured Clinical Interview for Pathological Gambling2,8Description: Tool to use for a differential diagnosis between gambling disorder and a manic episode.

Assessment: Diagnostic Interview for Gambling Schedule2,9Description: Structured interview that assesses different aspects of gambling disorder to get a better profile of the client.

Assessment: National Opinion Research Center DSM-IV Screen for Gambling Problems2,10Description: A 17-item interview that screens for gambling disorder across the spectrum.

Assessment: NODS-CLiP11Description: The NODS is a 17-item screener for gambling disorder, while the CLiP is a three-item questionnaire that identifies almost all pathological gamblers. Together, these tools have good sensitivity and specificity.

Treatment Strategies

Below are some treatment strategies also commonly used to help those on the gambling disorder spectrum.

Traditional therapy12

Suggesting Gamblers Anonymous12

Medication, although pharmacological interventions specific to gambling disorder are lacking12,13

Suggesting proper self-help12

Cue Exposure Therapy14

Natural recovery15

Motivational interviewing16

References

Gebauer Lm, LaBrie R, Shaffer HG. Optimizing DSM-IV-TR classification accuracy: A brief biosocial screen for detecting current gambling disorders among gamblers in the general household population

National Opinion Research Center. Gambling Impact and Behavior Study: Report to the National Gambling Impact Study Commission. Chicago, IL: National Opinion Research Cen­ter at the University of Chicago;1999. Available at http://www.norc.uchicago.edu/new/g amb-fin.htm.